Leveling device



y 1965 e. F. LISTER 3,183,581

LEVELING DEVICE Filed Dec. 21, 1962 BPW A Arrow/v5 /5 United StatesPatent 3,183,581 LEVELING DEVICE Glenn F. Lister, Waterloo, Iowa,assiguor to Lister Concrete Products and Ornamental Iron, Waterloo,Iowa,

a corporation of Iowa Filed Dec. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 246,574 2 Claims.(Cl. 29--200) The present invention relates to an apparatus for holdingand leveling a structural beam, during installation of the beam, andmore particularly to a jack device for raising and leveling wrought ironcolumns during installation.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improvedleveling and jack apparatus adapted to raise and accurately level astructural beam relative to a support member.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method ofpositioning and leveling a structural beam between spaced supportmembers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a selfcontained andportable leveling and jack apparatus which is adjustable to accommodatedifferent sized structural beams.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a versatile levelingand jack apparatus which is simple and rugged in construction,economical to manufacture, and easy and reliable in operation.

The exact nature of the invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will be readily apparent from the consideration ofthe following specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the leveling and jack apparatus inassembled relationship with a vertically extended wrought iron column;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the leveling and jackapparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE2; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the wedge shoring deviceassociated with the bottom of the iron column.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a structural beamin the form of a wrought iron column having a pair of parallel siderails 11 and 12 interconnected with ornamental members 13. The beam 10extends in -a vertical direction between spaced support members 14 and16, such as a porch ceiling member and a concrete slab, respectively.The upper end of the structural beam 10 is positioned on the supportmember 14 by a pair of cup-shaped cap members 17 which enclose the topends of the slide rails 11 and 1:2 in a well known manner. The beam 10is secured in its vertical position by shoring units 18 positioned underthe lower ends of the side rails 11 and 12. Cap members 19 are slidablypositioned on the lower ends of the side rails 11 and 12 and are adaptedto be moved in a downward direction to cover the shoring units 18. Asshown in FIGURE 1, the cap members 19 are in a raised position.

In order to position the shoring units 18 under the lower ends of theside rails 11 and 12 and to plumb and level the beam 10 the leveling andjack apparatus 21 of this invention is releasably secured to the siderails 11 and 12. As shown in FIGURE 2, the apparatus 21 comprises aframe means 22 having a pair of substantially longitudinally extendingmembers 23 and 24 interconnected at their midsections with a transverseextending member 26 and at their ends with transverse extending members27 and 28. Opposite ends of the transverse members 27 and 28 projectlaterall beyond the longitudinal members 23 and 24 and provide the framewith a width which is greater than the transverse space be tween theside rails 11 and 12 of the structural beam 10. Each end of thetransversely extending members 27 and 28 is provided with a short andlaterally projected arm or tab 29. Each tab 29 forms with its respectivetransverse member a right angular alignment surface 31 for positioningthe apparatus 21 in alignment longitudinally of the beam 10. A bubblegauge or level 25 is secured to the top surface of the transverse member26 to indicate the level and plumb position of the apparatus 21.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 the leveling and jack apparatus 21 isfastened to the side rails 11 and 12 of the beam by four clamp means 32slidably mounted on the end sections of the transverse members 27 and28.

As shown in FIGURE 4, each clamp means 32 is of a type commonly referredto as a G-clamp and includes a C-shaped body 33 which terminates at oneend in a flat round head 34 and at the other end in a leg 36. A screw 37is threadably supported b the leg 36 in axial alignment with the head34. The end of the screw 37 which projects toward the head 34 isprovided with an enlarged swivel head 38. A handle 39 extends through atransverse bore at the outer end of the screw 38 to provide for themanual rotation of the screw 37 whereby the head 38 can be moved towardand away from the head 34.

In order to accommodate structural beams of different widths each clampmeans 32 is guidably mounted on the transverse members 27 and 28 formovement longitudinally thereof. Each clamp means 32 is held and guidedon the members 27 and 28 by a guide track 40 which includes a pair ofangle irons 41 and 42 (FIG. 4) which are welded to opposite sides of theframe members 27 and 28. The angle irons 41 and 42 form a longitudinallyextended undercut recess 43 and a longitudinal guide slot 44. The head38 on the screw 37 is formed with a reduced portion 46 which isreceivable in the slot 44 and an enlarged head 47, which is confined inthe recess 43.

As shown in FIGURE 2 the lateral tabs 29 are secured to the outer endsof the angle irons 41 and 42 and close the end of the recess 43 thuspreventting the removal of the clamp means 32 from the frame 22.

In order to raise the frame 22 above the support surface 16 theapparatus 21 is provided with a fluid jack 48 secured to the mid-sectionof the frame 22. The jack 48 extends in a parallel relation with thelongitudinal members 23 and 24 and is secured to the transverse members27 and 28 by means of a U-shaped clamp 49 and a yoke member 51,respectively. The fluid jack 48 includes a cylindrical body 52 whichextends longitudinally of the frame 22. The U-shaped clamp 49 is weldedat its base section to the transverse member 27 and extends around thecylindrical body 52 and is clamped thereto by an associated bolt 53. Theyoke member 51 extends around the cylindrical body 52 and is welded tothe mid-section of the transverse member 28. A piston rod or workingmember 54 is extendible out of the lower end of the cylindrical body 52and is pivotally connected by means of a ball and socket connection to aflat base Plate 56. The jack 48 has a cylindrical operator member 57telescopically positioned over the upper end of the body 52. Theoperator member 57 is rotated to control a valve (not shown) positionedwithin the body 52 to permit the piston rod 54 to move into and out ofthe cylindrical body 52.

As shown in FIGURE 1 by the broken line position of the member 57 thereciprocal movement of the operator member 57 pumps fluid within thebody 52 to extend the piston rod 54 from the body thereby raising theframe 22. Rotating the operator member 57 to a fluid release J) positionpermits the return flow of fluid and retraction of piston rod 54 to theframe 22.

In use, the leveling and jack apparatus 21 is initially placed on thelower end of the structuralbeam 10. As shown in FIGURE 3, the side rail11 is placed against the right angular alignment surface 31 to positionthe frame 22 longitudinally of the beam 16. The head 34 of each clampmeans 32 engage the side rails 11 and 12, and the screw 37 is turneddown to hold the frame 22 on the side rails 11 and 12. The upper end ofthe side rails 11 and 12 are positioned in the cap membersifi secured tothe support member 14. Beam 1% being slightly shorter than thetransverse distance between the support members 14 and 16 is verticallypositioned between these members. The piston rod 54 of the jack 48 isinitially extended by reciprocally pumping the operator member 57 a fewstrokes to hold the side rails 11 and 12 in engagement with the capmembers 17 and permit movement of the base plate 56 over the supportmember 16 for eveling the beam lit. The bubble-type'level 25 is used toindicate the level and plumb positions of thebeam lil. When the beam isin a level and plumb position the piston rod 54 of the jack 43 isfurther extended by reciprocally pumping the operator member 57. Theframe 22 and the structural beam are moved vertically upwardly therebyincreasing the space between the bottom end of the side rails 11 and 12and the surface of the support member 16 until a desired spacing betweenthe support members l4 and 16 is obtained.

As shown in FIGURE 5, a pair of shoring members 18 are inserted undereach side rail. The shoring members 18 comprise a pair of self-lockingwedge-shaped shims 58 and 59. The wedge-shaped shims have matingselflocking teeth 61 which permit t e shims to be adjusted relative toeach other to vary the vertical height of the shoring unit 18. The shims58 and 59 are formed from metal,- preferably aluminum. After the shims58 and 59 have been placed under the side rails 11 and 12 and adjustedto take up the space between the end of the side rail and the surface ofthe support member 16 the cap member 19 which is telescopicallypositioned on the side rails 11 and 12 is placed over the shoringmembers 18 to protect them and provide an attractive appearance.

The leveling and jack apparatus 21 is released by angularly rotating theoperator member 57 of the jack 48 thereby allowing the piston rod 54 tobe retracted into the cylindricalbody 57.. With the release and removalof the clamp means 32 from engagement with the side rails 11 and 12 theapparatus 21 is ready to be used to level and position anotherstructural support beam between spaced members.

While there have been shown, described and pointed;

applied to the preferred embodiment, it will be understood that variousomissions, substitutions, changes in form, and details of the apparatusillustrated may be made by those skilled in the art, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. It is intended to be limited only asindicated by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for positioning a structural beam between spaced memberscomprising: 7

(a) frame means having longitudinal spaced projections for aligning saidframe means in a longitudinal eX- tended position on said beam,

(b) gauge means secured to said frame means for indicating a level andplumb position thereof,

(0) clamp means mounted on said frame means and operable to secure theframe means to the beam in said longitudinal aligned position,

(at) guide means forming a part of said frame means for mounting saidclamp means for movement transversely of said frame means, and

(a) jack means secured to and positioned longitudinally of said framemeans with one end adapted to engage one of said spaced members, saidjack means being operable to move the frame means and beam against theother of said spaced members.

2. An apparatus for positioning a structural beam between spacedinembers comprising:

(a) frame means, v

(b) coacting portions on said frame means and beam for aligning saidframe means longitudinally of said beam,

(c) gauge means secured to said frame means for indicating the level andplumb position thereof,

((1) clamp means mounted on said frame means and operable to secure theframe means to the beam in said longitudinal. aligned position, and

(e) jack means secured to and positioned longitudinally.

of said frame means with one end adapted to engage one of said spacedmembers, said jack means being operable to move the frame means and beamagainst the other of said spaced members. 7

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,272,349 2/42Noser 29-200 2,331,285 10/43 Allen et al. 89-37 2,863,531 12/58 Campbell29429 2,882,100 4/59 Bank 182--l29 3,018,842 1/62 Abrell 2920O WHITMOREA. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS EAGER, Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING A STRUCTURAL BEAM BETWEEN SPACED MEMBERSCOMPRISING: (A) FRAME MEANS HAVING LONGITUDINAL SPACED PROJECTIONS FORALIGNING SAID FRAME MEANS IN A LONGITUDINAL EXTENDED POSITION ON SAIDBEAM, (B) GAUGE MEANS SECURED TO SAID FRAME MEANS FOR INDICATING A LEVELAND PLUMB POSITION THEREOF, (C) CLAMP MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME MEANSAND OPERABLE TO SECURE THE FRAME MEANS TO THE BEAM IN SAID LONGITUDINALALIGNED POSITION, (D) GUIDE MEANS FORMING A PART OF SAID FRAME MEANS FORMOUNTING SAID CLAMP MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY OF SAID FRAME MEANS,AND (E) JACK MEANS SECURED TO AND POSITIONED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAIDFRAME MEANS WITH ONE END ADAPTED TO ENGAGE ONE OF SAID SPACED MEMBERS,SAID JACK MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO MOVE THE FRAME MEANS AND BEAM AGAINSTTHE OTHER OF SAID SPACED MEMBERS.